French Lentils with Venison Kielbasa

This was inspired by those lovely little greenish-gray pastilles called French Lentils. I had them in the cupboard, bulk-style from the health food store. Also had some amazing Venison Kielbasa from the Smokehouse of the Catskills, a superlative German meat store in our area. Legumes and salty, cured meat. How can you go wrong?

In your trusty, sturdy soup pot sautee onions in olive oil, then carrots (you could add celery, but for some reason I never buy it; I should, but I don't), add a bay leaf, 1 1/2 cups of lentils, and six cups of water. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for a half hour. For fifteen minutes I had it covered, then I uncovered it to burn off some of the water. I didn't want soup, I wanted beans and sausage. When it seems like a lot of liquid was evaporated, I tossed in about 3/4 of a pound of sliced sausage. And, in about ten minutes I had a nice piping bowl of lentils. I served it with roasted smashed fingerling potatoes that a friend had grown and given to me. So good! Even your baby will like it. But I pulled the sausage; it was a little spicy.